Gary Oldman To Direct Colin Firth In Unnamed Remake

Having already proven himself as one of the best actors in the business today, Gary Oldman is now looking jump behind the camera. A recent interview with UK’s Mail Online lent some insight into Oldman’s personality in addition to leaking some news of his next project. During the interview, Oldman made the informal announcement that he is planning a project in which he will direct none other than Colin Firth, who just won an Oscar for The King’s Speech and ecently appeared with Oldman in Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The only detail Oldman would reveal is that the project is a remake.

Even though Oldman has appeared in a great many genre films, I wouldn’t hold out much hope that he’s remaking a fantasy epic or a sci-fi classic. Later in this same interview he speaks about favoring working in films without special effects. Oldman is a classically trained actor who worked for years in British theater before making the leap to film. In fact, the reason he’s racked up such an impressive resume of genre roles is because his extensive theater training allows him to completely transform himself physically into any character no matter how fantastic. This is also why it took me years to get a grasp of what Gary Oldman actually looked like.

For his part, Colin Firth is also a classically trained actor with little in the way of genre experience. Firth has however shown great skill in both dramatic and comedic performances so the borders of speculation widen a bit as to which film these two are remaking. It’s clear that the stories that interest Oldman in terms of directing are intensely personal and grounded in reality. In 1997, he directed the film Nil by Mouth starring Ray Winstone, which was based on his own experiences growing up in a London working class family.

I suppose it’s narrow-minded to assume that the film Oldman is remaking with Firth would be a British film, but it seems a fair place to begin guessing. I would love to see the two of them tackle something like Alexander Mackendrick’s incredible The Man in the White Suit starring Sir Alec Guinness. It’s a weird little gem that touches on issues of British class structure similar to Nil by Mouth. Seeing how Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is also a remake, and that Oldman’s character was played in the original by Sir Alec, it wouldn’t be terribly surprising.